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A Publication of the Wisconsin Sheep Breeders Cooperative
Fall 2011 Volume 23, Number 4
Steady Growth Seen as Festival Celebrates Ten Years Clearing the ten year mark, the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival experienced steady growth when close to seven thousand fiber enthusiasts, producers, educators, sheep exhibitors, stock dog handlers and the general public converged on Jefferson Fair Park in early September. The Wonders of Wool fiber arts classes saw a solid ten percent upswing in registrations as students from as far away as Alaska signed on for a selection of classes that included everything from broom making to felting. The fiber arts have been a primary draw to the festival throughout its history and a major source of income for the event. With sixty
eight separate classes offered this year, Jefferson has become a major player in the world of fiber festivals and a must-see for fiber enthusiasts across the Upper Midwest. Also experiencing a solid upturn in numbers, the seven sheep shows—with as many judges—ran through more than 650 entries over a two-day period. Three judges from the UK helped to sort the entries in the Midwest Shetland, Mule and Blue-Faced Leicester shows, while the festival hosted the National Natural Colored Wool Growers Show for the first time. Over ninety market lambs competed in a show that had raised the premium bar by
offering a jackpot of $500 for the champion lamb. Calvin Reilly of Shullsburg, WI took home the champion market honors, while Reid Suddeth of Mineral Point exhibited the reserve champion market lamb for a premium of $250. The Country Store was as busy as ever, with 121 vendors from sixteen states vying for the attention—and dollars—of shoppers whose selection ranged from toy lambs to drop spindles; hooked rugs to hand cream. The 2012 Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival will be held on September 7-9 at Jefferson Fair Park.
Wisconsin Wool Works! Sets Sales Record Thanks in large part to a complete remodeling of its sales space in the Sheep & Goat Barn at the Wisconsin State Fair, the Wisconsin Wool Works! chalked up record sales as it closed out its eleventh year. While the weather played a major role, handing the fair near perfect temperatures over the eleven-day run, the increased visibility of the retail space and a better traffic flow was a game changer for sales, reports WWW Manager Carol Black. “Being able to move merchandise out into the newly fenced entry area was a huge help in attracting attention,” Black says, adding “Having a new main entrance also gave us visibility we never had in the past.” The Wisconsin State Fair started the ball rolling by offering to open up the east wall of the retail space and provide new doors which were installed in July. The fair also rewired the booth to bring it up to code and provide new outlets for lighting and ventilation fans. In turn, the Wisconsin Sheep Breeders Coop purchased some used display units, built a new checkout counter and added a rolling display for pelts. New banners, benches and a white fence to enclose the See WWW on Page 2
CONTEST WINNER - “Two Sheep - Two Trees“ is the title of the grand-prize winning photograph in the Wisconsin Sheep Breeders Cooperative’s annual photo contest. LeeAnne Richert of Cable was the winning photographer. Contest winners were selected by Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival visitors, who voted for their favorite photos. As grand-prize winner, Richert received a $50 gift card for photo services from Woodman’s Markets.
“Two Sheep - Two Trees” Wins WSBC Photo Contest
The new look of the Wisconsin Wool Works! booth at the 2011 Wisconsin State Fair was a major factor in boosting sales to record levels. In addition to investing in improvements for the Wool Works, the state fair added a hall of breeds display and provided popular shearing demonstrations during the open sheep shows. Photo by The Banner Magazine
Barb Schickel, Mineral Point, was one of numerous Wisconsin Wool Works! consignors on hand to help shoppers during the three days of the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival’s run at Jefferson Fair Park in early September. Photo by Linda Derrickson
Jefferson—A scenic photograph showing two sheep reaching for the bottom branches of two trees in a wintry setting was voted the grandprize winner in the Wisconsin Sheep Breeders Cooperative’s annual photo contest. The photograph, called “Two Sheep—Two Trees,” received the most votes from people attending the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival here recently. LeeAnne Richert of Cable, the winning photographer, won a $50 gift card for photo-processing services from Woodman’s Markets, based in Janesville. Eleven-year-old Stephanie Wilson of Dodgeville earned a $50 cash prize from The Country Today, based in Eau Claire, for having the photograph with the greatest number of votes in the Photo Taken by a Youth category. Her digitally enhanced photo was entitled “Friends” and showed a young girl hand-feeding two sheep. Wilson also earned second place in the same category with her photo called “Fairy and her Flock.” An untitled photo by Blake Johnson, 11, of Boyd placed third in the Youth category.
In the Kids and Sheep category, “Best Buds” by Jean Seeger of Ogdensburg took top honors, followed by “Lambie, Why Won’t You Play With Me?” by Mary Kretzchmar of Calodenia, Minn., and “City Meets Country” by Geri Kucera of Elmhurst, Ill. “Who’s the Boss?” by Sarah Pully of Ashland took first place in the Any Other Sheep and Wool Photo category, followed by “Warmth and Peace” by Austin Retzlaff of Lena and “Bear Creek Sheep Station” by Seeger. In the Just Lambs category, Seeger’s “I See You” photo took top honors, followed by “Lambies in Their Jammies” by Richert. In WSBC’s people’s-choice photo contest, Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival visitors had the opportunity to vote for their four favorite photographs. The photograph receiving the most over-all votes was named the grand-prize winner. In addition to prizes awarded by Woodman’s and The Country Today, contest finalists received premiums based on the number of entries in the annual contest.